According to the 22nd EY Europe Attractiveness Survey, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe slowed down last year. The number of projects increased by only 1 percent, and the number of jobs decreased by 16 percent. In 2021, companies realized 5,962 investments in 44 European countries, just under a hundred more than the previous year. The level is 10 percent lower than in the record-breaking year of 2017 and 7 percent lower than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

The top three countries in the EY ranking attracted half of the foreign investments. France maintained its position as the leader and recorded a 3 percent growth. Meanwhile, the UK and Germany, ranked second and third, respectively, experienced a decrease in the number of projects (by 6 percent and 1 percent). Poland attracted 237 projects, ranking eighth in the EY report. Our country experienced a 23 percent growth, the second-highest in the TOP10 (Portugal was better with 24 percent), though not as high as Romania's growth rate outside the top rankings (86 percent). 

"Investors are reconfiguring global supply chains. Poland may be one of the beneficiaries of this trend, among other reasons because of its location in the center of Europe, attractive investment costs, and access to skilled workers. The importance of investments made by entities from Ukraine and Belarus is also growing in Poland," Marek Rozkrut, EY partner and chief economist for Europe and Central Asia, said. 

(Puls Biznesu)